Appreciating The Things That Make Me Happy

It sometimes feels like everywhere you turn – and especially every time you complain about something – you see messages and get told to appreciate the things you’re happy about. This can be seriously annoying at times, but whilst I’m sat on the sofa feeling depressed about doing an 11 hour waitressing shift tomorrow, I figured it wouldn’t hurt to put together a bit of a list of the stuff thats making me happy right now – because if so many people say to count your blessings, there must be some logic in it, right??

Enjoying my work

Despite the aforementioned feeling of dread at this week’s three 11 hour shifts – and the 7 hour shifts last week and next week – I’m almost, dare I say it, enjoying work at the moment. I’ve got a casual summer job with my local uni’s catering company and as I’ve already done quite a few shifts this summer, largely the same type, I’ve got to know quite a lot of the people I’m working with (more impressive than it may seem at first, given I have around 400 potential coworkers!), which has made the daunting task of walking into a super long shift where you’re working with 30+ other people significantly easier. I’m not sure I know anyone working tomorrow, but I’m gonna try and keep myself feeling okay about it, seeing as there’s bound to be at least one person I recognise!

Friends

I’ve been finding myself feeling a little down about some of my friendships lately, largely because one of my closest friends left a month ago to spend a year in Denmark, and I’m not seeing her till Christmas. I’ve been a bit surprised about how much I’ve missed her, but I’m trying to stick in the mindset of ‘at least how much I miss her has shown how much I value her as a friend’. Plus, I’m visiting Copenhagen in December to see her, which is bound to be amazing! I’ve also got another best friend spending a month in America, which is a little tough, but I’m getting to spend more time with some people I used to be friends with at school, which I doubt will be as fulfilling and close as my main friendships, but it can never hurt to have more friends, right?! Also, another of my best friends got back from a year abroad in Provence last week so I can’t wait to see her!!

Independence

I recently passed my driving test (so recently I’m having to use my passport as ID until my licence arrives…) and the ability to just up sticks and go out for the day without relying on buses or train times is so refreshing. It’s let me go and do fun stuff with my friends in more places than I normally can, and it’s great just not to have to rely on anyone.

The weather

Because I am British through and through, the amazing weather we’ve got at the moment had to feature in here. It’s a seriously weird feeling being able to go out without a jumper or a jacket, wearing my bikini three times already this summer (!!) and being able to wear my ‘foreign holiday’ clothes about ten times more than normal!

University

Finally, ever since I got my IB results  I’m so excited to get to uni. I knew where I was going anyway (Birmingham, in case anyone’s interested) because of the nature of my offer, but something about getting my results made a switch flick in my head and I’ve gone from being predominantly nervous to insanely excited. It helps that I’ve recently been able to officially register for uni and I’m finding out about my accommodation in the next two weeks, so I guess it’s all becoming a bit more real. I’m also proud of myself that I’m feeling this way, because I’ve previously been so anxious about going to uni – it feels like a real breakthrough for me, and even if I turn into a wobbly mound of butterflies nearer the time, I’m proud of how I’m feeling now.

What things are making you happy at the moment?

Music of the Month: July

For me, the summer so far has been filled with an odd but interesting mix of jazz, pop and things in between. I’ve been to a few festivlas in the last couple of months – one with the Kaiser Chiefs and Scouting for Girls headlining, and a couple of jazz festivals in France and Switzerland, all of which have had an influence on July’s Music of the Month, as well as my friend’s trip to Lollapalooza in Paris and her subsequent insistence of playing half the line up to me…

Anyway, here’s my picks for the last month and a bit, brought to you from a sunny-ish balcony overlooking the Cornish sea…

Tired – Kygo Remix Alan Walker, Gavin James

Here Come The Girls Trombone Shorty

Strip That Down Liam Payne, Quavo

Debora T. Rex

Harlem Shuffle Bob & Earl

Feels Calvin Harris & co.

There For You Martin Garrix, Troye Sivan (shoutout to Troye Sivan for being lovely and liking our British accents when I met him at JFK on the way back from New York woop)

Hole In My Soul Kaiser Chiefs

Dancing In The Breeze Gentleman’s Dub Club

Came Here For Love Sigala, Ella Eyre

Wild Horses – Sam Feldt remix Birdy

Your Song Rita Ora

Perfect Places Lorde

Shape of You – Stormzy Remix Ed Sheeran (guess who’s seeing him live next year wahey ITS A ME, MARIOOO)

Know No Better (feat. Quavo) Major Lazer, Travis Scott

Call Me Over Dusky Grey

Silence Grace Carter

Praying Kesha

Glorious (ft. Skylar Grey) Macklemore

Concrete Tom Odell

As per usual, that playlist got a bit longer than I meant, but if you only could listen to three of those songs, make it Glorious, Call Me Over and Came Here For Love. And Harlem Shuffle because I’ve already proven I can’t stick to short lists. What’ve you been listening to this summer?

Summer In Songs

As some of you might already know, and might’ve guessed due to the lack of posts over the summer, I had a veryyy busy few months. It was one of the best summers ever, and as much as I want to (and may still) do a mega write up with tons of photos etc, I feel like as a lot of my memories from the summer are associated with music, it made sense and seemed more interesting to make a playlist of all the songs I have distinct memories of, and explain the stories behind a few. I’m still hoping to do a mega playlist post of all my favourite songs from the summer, but these have all been chosen with a specific even in mind…

---

All The Right Moves – One Republic

Raging – Kygo feat. Kodaline

Viva La Vida – Coldplay

This, as well as the previous two, were all chosen from the Radio 1 Big Weekend back in May. One Republic, Kygo and Coldplay were all amazing, and that weekend was just a real highlight of my whole year – Thursday was my birthday, Friday I had a birthday meal out with friends, Saturday I did a charity 5K with a friend and then on Sunday I went to Big Weekend with so many friends, which was amazing.

Talk Dirty – Jason Derulo

Anaconda – Nicki Minaj

This and Talk Dirty date back to prom specifically, but really encompass my last three years at school…Talk Dirty has a very specific memory from our Year 9 battlefields trip that involves some ~interesting~ dancing, and Anaconda has music GCSE memories and a lot more attached.

Lovely – twenty one pilots

Bonkers – Dizzee Rascal

I think this has been played at every party I went to this summer, and every time it was amazing. Such a classic.

Mr Brightside – The Killers

I remember everyone wanting to hear this at the end of one party, but not being able to find it, then it ended up making me cry at the last party of the summer because a) it always makes me emotional and b) ALL THE FEELS about leaving school and my friends and it all just kinda hit then.

Bohemian Rhapsody – Queen 

Same as Bonkers. And everybody always knows the words so it just turns into singalong squad goals.

Step Into The Light – Teminite feat. Jonah Hitchens

One Dance/Hasta el Amanecer – Alex Aiono

This and Step Into The Light remind me of a couple of days with two of my best friends between my trips to Holland and Scotland, when we went swimming at a local lido and absolutely froze and then had the best evening attempting hair chalking and just having a laugh. It’s hard to do it justice in words but it was just so, so fun.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Joanna✨ (@mixolydianmusings)

Over and Done With – The Proclaimers

This is the product of a trip to Scotland and finally watching Sunshine On Leith…

XO – Eden Project

Middle – DJ Snake feat. Bipolar Sunshine

Can’t Hold Us – Macklemore & Ryan Lewis

This is for one of my best friends and her amazing talent that we discovered at a party – she can rap the entire thing, even under the influence of alcohol, word for word. It’s pretty impressive, ngl.

Dance Wiv Me – Dizzee Rascal & Calvin Harris

Same as above, except it was just aforementioned best friend and my boyfriend singing and we were all stood there like ‘how do you know these words’. Fun times.

Wonderwall – Oasis

Same party, but at this point we were all sat round the fire with a guitar singing a bit of Oasis, as you do.

Millionaire – Cash Cash & Digital Farm Animals feat. Nelly

Good Grief – Bastille

Nobody To Love – Sigma

For some reason I can remember that this was on the radio when we were coming back from a beach trip, and yeah, it just reminds me of that trip.

Forest – twenty one pilots

Bouncy Ball (from High School Musical) – Bad Lip Reading

I know this isn’t technically a song, but it was such a big part of my summer I couldn’t resist…the specific memories involve me, two friends and my boyfriend, blowing up balloons, my friend and I walking back from Waitrose to discover the other two bathing their feet in our (admittedly amazing) bath  and then attempting basketball and smashing a light in the process. I’ll leave the rest to your imagination…

Take On Me – a-Ha (Kygo remix)

That moment my friend and I discovered someone else who liked Kygo at my party and just added half his album to the Spotify queue. Whoops…

This Girl – Kungs vs. Cookin’ On 3 Burners

Hair – Little Mix feat. Sean Paul

This reminds me of driving back when my sister picked me up from work on a really sunny day and we got McDonalds and this song was on the radio or we were talking about it or something and for once we weren’t really arguing.

If You Got The Money – Jamie T

How Would You Like It – Lauren Aquilina

I had to include this because a) Lauren’s debut album finally came out this summer and omg it was amazing and b) I had the best time reviewing it with Eve.

Manhattan Skyline – David Shire

The most recent addition, I played this in jazz band yesterday. It’s 70s disco from Saturday Night Fever and the strings are just amazing and it’s just amazing.

Are there any particular songs you associate with your summer? Which of these songs is your favourite?

15 Things I Learnt This Summer

As I mentioned in this post, I’ve had an incredibly busy, incredibly fun summer. Amazingly, even more has happened since I wrote that post – GCSE results day, having some Danish people stay with us, four more parties (including one of my own), two more shifts at new jobs as well as some at my old job, some college induction stuff and another horror movie evening (we watched Insidious then turned around and saw a freaking huge spider on the curtain and all freaked out a teensy bit, especially when it RAN AWAY AND DISAPPEARED). I’ve also got hooked on another Netflix series, Jane The Virgin and found even more music I love, but I’m planning on saving all that for a bumper ‘favourites’ post in the next week or so.

me @ all spiders everywhere (via)

Anyhow, over the summer I guess I’ve learnt a few things, and I figured I’d be a nice person and put them all in a post to share my wisdom…(in the loosest sense of the word)

via

1. Your closest friends may not be exactly who you think they are and you may drift apart from some people, but that’s OK. Everyone changes and your friendships evolve to reflect that.

2. Black and white filters flatter everyone, no matter what the situation is.

3. Carling lager is gross, gets better the more you drink it but is then absolutely disgusting warm.

via

4. Tents are bloody uncomfortable, especially when there are 16 teenagers in a 6 man tent and the tent starts leaking in the middle of the night.

5. Crunchie spread is A+ 10/10 would eat again (which is handy, as I’ve got a whole jar of it).

6. Liquid eyeliner is just as hard to apply as everyone says, if not more.

via

7. On that note, putting an eyeliner pencil in the freezer because it’s a bit melty won’t have much effect.

8. And eyeliner pencils can stain carpets.

9. Crappy Netflix series (Jane the Virgin, Prison Break, the marginally less crappy Making A Murderer) take up so much time but are amazing, especially with a duvet on hand.

 

Prison Break feat. ice cream and blankets

10. The only limit to the amount of tea you can drink in a day is your level of mental preparation.

 

via

11. New things are scary and horrible but most people are actually pretty nice and/or equally terrifying.

12. It’s perfectly possible to bond with people over a mutual fear of icebreakers, a lack of willingness to talk to other human beings and social anxiety.

13. Outdoor swimming in a bikini in a non-heated pool in Britain in July on an overcast day is absolutely freezing and a really bad idea but really fun anyway.

14. Ditto for the sea, even on a sunny day.

15. Time really, truly does fly when you’re having fun.

via

---

 

What did you do this summer?

– AOT

 

 

Since I’ve Been Gone

I realised last night that its been a long time since I wrote anything other than a list or a bunch of photos, so waking up this morning to the sound of rain and nothing other than an unspecified number of hungover teenagers to deal with (results day…) I decided to postpone getting up for a while longer and have a go at writing something a bit different and a bit more chatty. After all, I was absent from here for about two months, and a lot happened in that time…but for now, I’m back. (try and stifle the depressed groans, pls)

via

I went to Cornwall with my best friend, which was one of the best trips to Cornwall I’ve ever had…a personal photographer and Disney fan made everything better, and who wouldn’t want to spend three days straight with their best friend when they haven’t seen them in a few weeks?

Straight after Cornwall, I headed to Holland for a week to have a look at universities in Rotterdam, Groningen and Maastricht. I still don’t know if I want to study in Holland or if I can even do the subject I want at a place I like but I know that I still love Holland, especially Rotterdam and Maastricht.

After Holland I had a few breather days where I did my first shift at one of my new jobs (I was so terrified before I genuinely thought I was going to throw up but it went alright in the end)(mainly because there was a lot of free food). I also caught the train down to Plymouth to stay other with two of my best friends and go swimming in the absolutely freezing Tinside Lido. Only in Britain would you willingly freeze to death in a bikini because it’s above 15 degrees and not raining…(yet).

via

Then I headed to Scotland with my sister to spend five days in Edinburgh with my godparents, which was really fun (and no murder or even too much violence occurred, you can tell my sister and I are getting closer to being responsible adults!), and although apparently my mum requested we were introduced to Prosecco, we were more interested in Pokemon Go. (Heads up, Edinburgh Zoo has an insane amount of Pokestops)

via

I still didn’t relax after Scotland – within two hours of landing, I was on the train to the beach with friends, then ended up having a sleepover where I was forced into watching a horror movie. SO MUCH STRESS IT WAS SO NOT FUN. (but on the bright side I made a deal that if my boyfriend made me watch a horror movie I could make him watch Frozen. He’s now convinced Olaf is massively depressed and suicidal and has a fully developed theory for how Elsa can take over the world. Alrighty.)

So apparently this really cute bit just illustrates Olaf’s suicidal tendencies? (via)

I’ve also, in my incredibly exciting summer, made it onto season 2 of 90210 on Netflix without realising it, and finished series 1 of Prison Break. Now to start Making A Murderer…

Oh, and I spent a couple of days in Exmouth with friends and met another for lunch at Pizza Express, which was all fun but is making me more and more nervous about leaving the in September. I’m so looking forward to college but it’s hard to deal with the idea that argh I’m not going to have lessons or spend half my day with these people I’ve been chucked together with for seven years but instead I have to make new friends which is terrifying. If this is my last post on here just assume I turned into a weird jelly Thing of Fear. (alternatively I just got really lazy and unmotivated again, that’s probably more likely).

me when I think about leaving school (via)

Oh, and in the most important news of this whole post, I made rocky road last night, in order to defend my title as Rocky Road Goddess. Some people have never tried mine and don’t believe it is absolutely the best, so I’m going to prove them wrong. Rocky road is my signature dish and I am the best at it. End of. I’m also very modest about my baking abilities, if you hadn’t noticed.

via

The Start Of Summer: Radio 1 Big Weekend

Wahey, wahoo, callooh, callay (sneaky Rainbow Rowell reference totally intended), I’m back and alive and blogging again, yay. (I didn’t die or anything, just, y’know, GCSEs…although my social life has improved dramatically during exams, which I’m pretty sure isn’t meant to happen).

But back to the point – about two weeks ago, in fact right before I wrote my last post, I went to a day of the BBC Radio 1 Big Weekend at Powderham Castle, in my lovely sunnyish home county of Devon. Yay. And now I’ve finally got round to writing about it…

I technically went with two of my friends, though by the end of the day we’d picked up four more and kinda temporarily met a bunch of others – because it was such a local festival, it felt like half the people I’d ever met were there, which was quite nice.  Anyway, we went on the Sunday, and after arriving, getting food because we’re teenagers and permanently hungry and meeting up with the others, we headed to the main stage, we watched One Republic, who were actually a lot better than expected…as they were the openers for some reason I didn’t think they’d be that great, but they actually completely surpassed my expectations.

After OneRepublic more food was bought because some people didn’t get round to having breakfast and why not, and then we met up with five or six more friends to watch Kygo at the main stage while a couple of people went to see Panic! At The Disco on the In New Music We Trust stage. Kygo was just as good as I’d hoped (though not quite as good as when I saw him on his Cloud Nine tour in London) and there was a suitable amount of confetti…we all just stood in a line a bit off to the side of the stage and danced for the whole set, so yeah, that was a laugh.

 

After Kygo, the group shrunk back to being five of us and we went to the INMWT tent to watch Jack Garratt, though we only managed the first fifteen or twenty minutes of his set because, well, the tent was hot and full and we all got a bit too sweaty, to put it bluntly, so we moved outside and sat in the shade for a half hour or so until Alessia Cara was due on (/we got sick of the Star Wars theme tune being played every time the ride next to us started). I think it was also here that we saw some people dressed as hot dogs/ice cream cones and a guy in short shorts and electric blue tights who made one of my friends get up and do the “hashtag dance” (FOR THE LOVE OF THE HASHTAG) so, uh, yeah.

Alessia Cara was one of the artists I’d most been looking forward to (I think I might know all of the lyrics to the deluxe version of her Know-It-All album off by heart…) and she definitely lived up to my expectations. I just really love her music and how relatable her lyrics are and she seemed so down-to-earth when she was talking between songs, which was really nice (plus we were nearer the front but at the side, so there was less of a heat problem). I think my favourite songs of hers, from what I can remember, may have been Here, Scars To Your Beautiful or River of Tears (I swear part of the chord sequence of the latter is the same as some other really famous song, Snow Patrol or something, but I can’t quite figure it out and it’s seriously bugging me so if anyone can figure it out please feel free to put me out of my misery). Oh, and we briefly met about five more friends there so yeah, that was nice.

oh, and her hair and style and everything is just so great and I want it

After Alessia Cara we headed back to the main stage to watch Iggy Azalea who was, well, rubbish. You could tell because the camera never panned to the audience after the first five minutes because pretty much everyone was just stood there like is this over yet but hey, I got a decent photo of the stage so I’ll stick that in here anyway and we’ll just forget she ever actually performed.

About halfway through Iggy four of us decided we’d had enough and headed back over to the INMWT stage (via the churros van because ahem who says no to churros and Belgian chocolate sauce? NOT ME, THAT’S FOR SURE) to meet back up with a friend we’d seen earlier and watch the first bit of Skepta’s set before heading back to the main stage for The 1975. In the end we only caught about two minutes of Skepta before we left so the friend we’d met up with, a diehard The 1975 fan, could get back to the main stage and as close to the front as possible for the start of their set which, incidentally, was quite good.

Oh, by this point I think we’d also decided to invest in getting our faces PVA’d and glittered because hey, what better to spend £5 on? (it did look pretty damn awesome and the PVA smelled weirdly good (I’M NOT A GLUE SNIFFER PROMISE) and it came off surprisingly easily so yeah, it was worth it, even when it felt like half my face was covered in some weird face mask thing). Anyway, after The 1975 we met back up with the two friends we’d ditched for Skepta and got some lovely, slightly undercooked pizza and chips for dinner. Yum. We then just chilled in the sun whilst Ellie Goulding was on with even more people we knew that we found along the way, before heading back to the main stage for the end of The (very sweary) Weeknd’s set and to await Coldplay (YAY!).

 

For some reason I wasn’t actually that excited about Coldplay (I think Alessia Cara, Kygo and Jack Garratt were the people I was most keen to see) but, as pretty much goes without saying, they were phenomenal. They really upped the confetti game with rainbow confetti, and fireworks, and it turns out that when 25,000 people get out their phone torches at the same time it looks pretty incredible, as proven during The Scientist (oh boy, you know you’re hormonal when you nearly start crying watching that back…please help me, for my own sanity). Oh, and if you watched it on TV and saw an inflatable shark right near the start, I one or two people in front of that :). (and is it just me that thinks one of the Coldplay guitarists looks really like Andy Murray?!)

So yeah, I guess you could say it was a good day and a pretty decent thing to do a few days after your birthday 🙂

Here are a just a few more snaps from the day, some courtesy of my friends…

Instagram // Twitter // Facebook // Bloglovin’

If you liked this, you may like these…

The Good Life

16 Things To Do In My 16th Year

20 Songs You Need To Listen To Right Now

Welcoming In The New Era Of Aquilina {collab review}

The Best Night Of My Life: Kygo @ Brixton O2 Academy

An A-Z Of My Music Library {the 2016 edition}

The Definitive Travel Playlist

source

Lately I’ve begun to really, really want to go travelling, and I’ve also been listening to Spotify a lot. So I decided to combine my wanderlust with my Spotify obsession, and concoct the perfect playlist for travelling…

It’s made up of a mixture of songs – some are obviously to do with travel and places, some just make me feel summery and would be perfect for a road trip and some just feel like they fit the travel bill – whether it’s because of the mood (nostalgia, excitement, that feeling when you fall head over heels in love with a brand new place) or the lyrics, they just felt right. Enjoy! {listen on Spotify here}

In no particular order…

Atlas Hands (Thomas Jack Remix) – Benjamin Francis Leftwich

Fast Car – Jonas Blue {for those road trip vibes}

Ain’t Got Far To Go – Jess Glynne {for when you’re nearing the end of the journey}

I Took A Pill In Ibiza (SeeB Remix) – Mike Posner

Rivers (Sam Feldt & De Hofnar Remix) – Thomas Jack {ideally to be played whilst sat on a riverbank}

Thinking Of Sunshine – Daniel Adams-Ray {for if you’re visiting a hot country – or just anywhere other than the UK, tbh, or for when the thought of a holiday is the only thing keeping you motivated}

A Sky Full of Stars – Coldplay {for the camping trips}

Adventure Of A Lifetime – Coldplay {for the gap years, exotic expeditions and backpacking trips}

Alive (Edeema Remix) – Alex Doan

All Of The Stars – Ed Sheeran {for the late night contemplation moods}

Anything – Hedley {for the moments when you feel invincible}

Barcelona – George Ezra

Budapest – George Ezra

Cake By The Ocean – DNCE {to be played whilst eating cake, by the ocean}

California Love – Somekindawonderful

Clouds – One Direction

Coming Over (filous Remix) – James Hersey

Crazy Youngsters (from Pitch Perfect 2) – Ester Dean

Cups (from Pitch Perfect) – Anna Kendrick

Daydreamin’ – Ariana Grande {for blue skies, fluffy white clouds and sunny days}

Do It Now – Jasmine Thompson {road trip vibes}

Don’t Worry (ft. Ray Dalton) – Madcon

Down By The River – Milky Chance {you know where to play this}

Drive – Oh Wonder {you know when to play this}

Durban Skies – Bastille {for stunning sunsets and South Africa}

Freedom – Pharrell Williams

Geronimo – Sheppard

Good Times – Ella Eyre

Halycon Birds – Broken Back

Half The World Away – AURORA {for when home feels like a different planet}

Home – Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeros {because home doesn’t have to be a house}

Hymn For The Weekend – Coldplay {for long weekend short trips away}

Jubel – Klingande

Kiss Me – Campsite Dream

Lava – Kuana Torres Kahele {y’know, just in case you spot some volcanoes}

Mermaid – Train {ditto for mermaids}

Lush Life – Zara Larsson

Miami 82 (Kygo Remix) – Syn Cole

New Americana – Halsey {for when you feel so damn cool (even though you probably aren’t)}

Ocean – Lauren Aquilina {for a bit of gentle sailing}

Ocean Drive – Duke Dumont {ditto, but a bit faster this time}

Of The Night – Bastille

Paradise – Coldplay {for when you fall in love with a place}

Pompeii – Bastille {listen to this when you find those volcanoes}

Princess of China – Coldplay ft. Rihanna

Rather Be (ft. Jess Glynne) – Clean Bandit {because travelling is so much better than staying at home)

Reality – Lost Frequencies

Rockin’ All Over The World – Status Quo {sorry, couldn’t resist}

Roman Holiday – Halsey {for those Italian days}

Runaway (U & I) – Galantis

Seeing Stars – BORNS

Skulls – Bastille {for when you’re visiting ancient monuments}

Southern Man – Akshin Alizadeh

Stay – Kygo ft. Maty Noyes {because you just don’t want to go home}

Sun Goes Down (ft. Jasmine Thompson) – Robin Schulz

T-Shirt Weather – Circa Waves {for anywhere outside of Britain}

Tenerife Sea – Ed Sheeran

Tompkins Square Park – Mumford & Sons

YOUTH – Troye Sivan

10,000 Emerald Pools – BORNS

Are You With Me – Lost Frequencies

---

 

Sorry, I seem to be physically incapable of compiling short playlists ah well, this is now your definitive travel playlist :). Which songs do you like? What would you add? Where do you most want to travel to? (for me it’s got to be America, specifically NYC, or maybe Australia!) Let me know in the comments 🙂 

 Instagram // Twitter // Facebook // Bloglovin’

If you liked this you may like the following:

Music of the Month: February

January 2016: Monthly Music Picks

All The Bright Places: Review (mad fangirling) + Playlist

Cornwall 2k15: A Photo Journal

I’m sorry, I’m sorry…2k15 happened. I just couldn’t resist. Last time, I swear. (Until the next time at least…)

Anyway, I’m on hollibobs (translate: holiday) at the moment, in Cornwall. We only arrived on Saturday, so we haven’t done too much yet (except SLEEP and EAT!), but I felt like doing a photo-journal-so-far. I suspect I won’t get round to/it’ll be a long time until I can do the second post, as we get back on Saturday, I go to Boardmasters to see Bastille on Sunday (ONLY SLIGHTLY PEEING MY PANTS WITH EXCITEMENT OVER HERE), and then I’m off on the Wednesday to Serbia for five days. Whew, busy!

Right, on with the photos…

Pretty sunset

Damn you, powerline, for ruining my photo…

SQUEEEEEEEEEE

Going to be trying here out sometime this week, hopefully…

*after the ~incident~ with a big wave…hence the wet knees!*

Oh hai there, new Fistral Beach signs…I like you

EXCITEDDDDD

Dinner last night, Rick Stein’s new fish and chips/curry takeaway/eat in…halloumi ftw!

Apparently Minions and Frozen ice cream is a thing now…not from here, but relevant pic, y’know? Couldn’t not mention the Minion ice cream!

PANORAMA TIME!!!

Yum.

This sunset is so pretty I CAN’T EVEN (I odd instead 😉 😉 😉 #punssss)

The tide is high…

Big flop, little flop…CARDBOARD BOX!

!!!!! Anyone going to Boardmasters on Sunday?

First hot chocolate of the holiday from the second beach cafe of the day (there was still one more to come!

Prepared for the car journey.

A shopfront getting it’s musicness on

Can’t beat a good ol’ foot shot.

Sand + Vans

Pretty flowers…

Panorama x2 (except this photo was taken first)

Funky multicoloured toilet doors

Nice nailssss

CANNOT BELIEVE I WAITED SO LONG TO READ THIS BOOK. LIKE, WTH? AHHH I LOVE IT!!! (Finished in under 48 hours…I think I’m out of my reading slump!)

Wetsuits, Ice Creams, Fish & Chips and the F-Word

I had a surprisingly lovely afternoon with my mum yesterday. She had the afternoon off work, and so we drove down to the quay to try and sort me out with a new wetsuit, ready for our family holiday in a couple of weeks. Normally, buying wetsuits – and just wetsuits in general – involves spending a hideous length of time trying to find one that fits, and then trying to get it on smoothly. In short, we all hate wetsuit shopping.

Due to our fairly negative previous wetsuit experiences, neither of us were particularly looking forward to this shopping expedition. Dreading it, I think would be fair to say. However, we were both pleasantly surprised! We quickly found two potential wetsuits, and when I tried them both on one clearly fitted better than the other. They were both dead easy to get on and off, and felt great to wear – I actually told my mum I hadn’t realised wetsuits could be so comfortable!

After that successful outing, we decided to go for a wander around the quay, which was lovely. We had a poke around a couple of the shops, and stopped to get a packet of strawberry bonbons (my mum, sister and I always used to share these, a tradition cut short a few years ago by the introduction of braces first to my sister, then me) and some ice cream – Mum had a Feast and I had a Magnum Pink Raspberry which, BTW, was incredible. 100% recommend, it was a great choice for my first (kinda) proper ice cream of the summer!

This wasn’t the actual ice cream from yesterday, but it’s pink and from my Instagram account so it’ll do! (Words to live by, they are…)

We then took a trip into town to replace my falling-apart school shoes, which also went surprisingly smoothly. In the evening, we dropped my sister off at her cricket training and then went to a nearby pub to get something to eat (I choose some rather yummy fish and chips). But where does the F-word come in, I hear you ask?

Well, that’s a funny one. The table next to us in the pub garden-y bit was populated my five or six probably twenty-somethings, who didn’t appear to be very happy with where they were working. They also punctuated every second word with ‘f—ing’. Rough examples:

“I can sell f***** ice to the f***** eskimos but I won’t work for f****** Lee”

“He treats his staff like f******** children”

“I hate f****** Jagerbombs, they make me throw up” (but this particular girl doesn’t mind Sambucca, so don’t worry)

THIS WAS SO FUNNY. My mum and I just looked at each other and quietly sniggered, and then as soon as my sister got in the car after cricket, we started imitating them. It was hilarious. We mimicked them to my dad as well, his face was just so confused it was fantastic.

Ahh, lol. (I was actually lol-ing, so that’s an acceptable use of it).

What’ve you been up to lately?

Reason To Be Happy #6

IT’S THE SUMMER HOLIDAYS AND THE SUN IS SHINING! CONGRATULATIONS BRITAIN, YOU OVERCAME THE RAIN! Hahahaha